Herdbell Blog

Guide

Claude Code vs Codex vs Cursor: how to monitor all of them in one place

Updated October 27, 2026

If you run more than one coding agent, something is usually waiting on you in a window you are not looking at. Herdbell listens to each agent through its own hooks and puts every chat in one list. This page is the honest comparison of what that gives you for each agent, based on how Herdbell works today.

What you can do from Herdbell, agent by agent

Claude CodeCodexCursorAntigravity
See what it is doing and what it saidYesYesYesYes
Allow or deny a commandYesYesYes (shell commands and MCP tools)Shown in Herdbell, approve in Antigravity
A multiple-choice questionShown, answer in ClaudeShown, tap the answer in HerdbellShown, answer in CursorShown, answer in Antigravity
Reply when it finishes a turnYesYesYesYes
Stop it while it worksTerminal onlyTerminal onlyNoNo

"Terminal only" means Claude Code or Codex running in a terminal. A chat inside the Claude or Codex app is stopped in that app, because Herdbell never signals an app's own engine.

How Herdbell connects to each one

You can disconnect any agent on the Agents page and Herdbell stops listening to it and removes only its own hooks.

  • Claude Code: its settings file in ~/.claude.
  • Codex: ~/.codex/hooks.json.
  • Cursor: ~/.cursor/hooks.json.
  • Antigravity: its own hooks configuration, plus its chat record on your Mac.

Which one should you use?

That depends on your work, not on Herdbell. Herdbell does not rank them: it watches all four the same way, so you can switch freely and still know the moment any of them needs you. If one hits a usage limit, Context Bridge lets you hand the chat to another.

Common questions

Does Herdbell work with all four agents at once?

Yes. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and Antigravity can all be connected at the same time, and every chat shows up in one list.

Does Herdbell change how my agents behave?

No. It only answers the questions an agent sends it. If Herdbell is closed, your agents use their own prompts as usual.